Monday, February 22, 2010

On Friday, I had the day off work. Supergirl and I were scheduled to get our teeth cleaned at 1:00 at our dentist's office. Since our regular mechanic was on the way, I scheduled an oil change and safety inspection for my car, telling him I would drop the car off on our way to the dentist and pick it up on our way home. Then, my plan was to go do a little shopping, and just relax. I even thought about stopping at the library, to write a little post here, updating you guys on my sunglasses purchases and checking on a few other things I had going on various other places on the Internets. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! (That's the Universe, laughing at my nice, simple plan for Friday.) While we were at the dentist's office, they mentioned putting sealants on Supergirl's molars. This was something I had wanted to do, so I was definitely open to the idea. Well, my insurance covers it at 100%, and the hygenist said it would only take 15 minutes and wouldn't hurt her, did we want to do it right then? So, I talked it over with Supergirl for a few minutes, and we agreed to go ahead and do it. I was still having my teeth cleaned in the next room, so I wasn't with her at this point, so I don't know exactly what happened. I could hear her starting to whimper a little, so I checked on her a time or two, but she seemed to be okay. I talked to her and told her what they were doing and she calmed down. So I went back to the room next door and my cleaning. Once my cleaning was finished, I went to Supergirl's room and she had thrown up ALL over the place. I helped get her cleaned up, then took her to the bathroom to finish cleaning her up. Throughout all this, she kept saying that her throat hurt really bad. When we came out of the bathroom, one of the hygenists came and got us and said, "We want to do another x-ray if she'll let us." Which I thought was weird, but whatever, so I helped talk Supergirl into letting them do one more x-ray. Then, we went back to the room where they had cleaned her teeth. Then the hygenist and the dentist told me why they wanted to do that last x-ray. When she threw up, or before she threw up, the dental mirror that they had in her mouth broke and the reflective disc went down her throat. (Naturally, they didn't tell me this that concisely. They told me that they thought she might have swallowed "part of an instrument". They said "part of an instrument" about four times before they actually told me WHICH PART of WHICH INSTRUMENT. I was visualizing the sharp, scrapy tools for a full minute or two before they showed me the round, quarter-sized disc that my daughter actually swallowed. Which, yes, bad. But way better than the sharp, scrapy tools that I was immediately imagining.) (They also told me this IN FRONT OF SUPERGIRL. Who proceeded to freak the fuck out. I was barely holding it together, but she lost it.) So. Once I got Supergirl calmed down some, the dentist and I talked. The disc was plastic, had no sharp edges, and was about the size of a quarter. We thought it would probably travel on through her digestive system and be fine. But, he recommended that we go over to the Urgent Care Center and have a throat and chest x-ray, just to make sure it wasn't stuck somewhere, especially since she was still saying that her throat hurt really badly. He also made it clear that his office would cover all costs. So, then I got to explain to my husband (who was waiting outside) how all this had happened and that we now needed to head over to the Urgent Care for some x-rays. Initally, he was mad at me for going ahead with the sealants without us discussing it as a family (which, valid point), but once he realized that this was a serious situation, he dropped that beef and got supportive. He came in to the Urgent Care just as the x-rays were being developed and discussed. The Urgent Care doctor was a little brusque and I was starting to get mad, so Rock showed up at the perfect time and took over dealing with the doctor. At the Urgent Care, (which was about two blocks away from the dentist's office), they took two x-rays and saw the mirror on the first one. It was stuck in the back of her throat. In the second x-ray, it was blocked by her chin, so it was still that high in her throat. She threw up another time or two, once more in the dentist's office and once in the Urgent Care. The Urgent Care sent us directly to the Emergency Room at the hospital (practically across the street from the Urgent Care), where they would sedate her and intubate her and then reach into her throat with forceps and pull the mirror out. But of course, that took forever. First, they had to insert an IV. Then, they gave her some Benadryl. (I don't really know why, but it made her really drowsy, which made her more comfortable.) During this part, Rock was with her and I was with Wildman out in the waiting room. Because of swine flu and norovirus and all that other stuff, children under 12 can't go back to the emergency room "rooms" (unless they are patients), so he had to stay out in waiting room. So I sat in the waiting room for an hour with a 3 year old, which I do not recommend. Rock had the keys to the car, so I couldn't even take him to the car to get him out of the waiting room. He crawled on the floor, under the "wet floor" sign. He crawled all over this nice lady who had a kidney stone.(Fortunately, she had a small son at home, so she was VERY nice about him. Bless her, I hope she's well today!) He crawled all over a little family with a baby girl until I pulled him off them. Finally, Rock came out and switched places with me. I went back to the room and sat with Supergirl and he took Wilman out to the car. After three hours, they finally took her in for the procedure. Once she was in surgery, we could all wait in that waiting room, so we were all back together. The Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist who did the procedure was terrific. He said the funny thing was that, since it was a mirror, it reflected his lights back at him, so it was hard to see to get hold of it. Once the mirror was out of her throat, and she woke up from the anesthesia, Supergirl was fine. Her throat didn't hurt anymore. They took a chest x-ray to be sure that nothing else was in there, then sent her up to a hospital room. There, they gave her an antibiotic and an anti-nausea medicine in her IV, which took an hour and a half to drip in. She had to be able to walk and to urinate and not throwing up before she could go home, but she was easily doing all of that in the first hour after her surgery. We went home that night, but it was after 10:00 before we left the hospital. She's been fine since then, though. The ENT Specialist and the dentist both called to check on her on Saturday morning, which I though was really nice. Just an insane day.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

If I want high-quality, durable polarized sunglasses without paying a really exorbitant price, what brand should I look at? I want something fashionable, but I don't like the bug-eye, huge trend that's popular right now. My last pair (that broke last weekend, RIP beloved sunglasses! was a pair of Fossil's that I bought about 4 years ago, so you can tell that I don't lose them or break them until they wear out from old age. So I don't mind paying more than $10 at Wa!-Mart. I get migraines, so I'm way more concerned with blocking light than I am with saving money or looking good. I'm not prepared to pay a mortgage amount, though, of course. Any brand or store suggestions welcome!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

So I guess since I'm getting those really annoying anonymous comments, I should post something. There hasn't been a reason I haven't been posting, I've just been busy at work. But here are a few updates of things I've thought about telling you, but haven't managed to:

A doctor finally commented on my weight loss! And it was a doctor who had previously advised me to lose some weight, which made me tremendously happy. It had been three months since my last appointment with him, and he commented, "Since your last visit, you've lost 9...no, 11 pounds. That's great!" To which I thanked him for saying something and told him that positive reinforcement went a long way.

Facebook tip - If you actively tormented me in middle or high school, DO NOT send me a friend request on FB. I received a friend request last week from "Homecoming Queen". In middle school, this girl made fun of my new haircut. The next week, she came in with the very same haircut. I tell this story not to show my grudge-holding prowess (though it is impressive, no?), but to say, she and I were not friends. So when I got her friend request, I laughed all the way to the "Ignore" button.

Also, if you are on Goodreads, please friend me. I've just started participating in their bookswap and I'd love to swap books with some of you! If you don't know my last name, send me an email and I'll tell you or tell me how to find you on Goodreads and I'll friend you.

About Me

Thirty-gulp-nine year old wife and mother. Though I will talk about my family from time to time, this will not be a mommy blog.
Cast of Characters:
Rock - husband
Supergirl - 13 year old daughter
Wildman - 9 year old son
Bear - 2 year old son